Terwilliger proud of successful ULI forum

This last week’s Urban Land Institute’s meeting in Atlanta was a shining moment for Ron Terwilliger, chairman of the Trammell Crow Residential.

Terwilliger, who calls Atlanta home, chaired the ULI Spring Council Forum — a national gathering of planners, developers and real estate professionals.

Terwilliger was instrumental in securing the keynote speakers: former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee; and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Interestingly enough, Donovan had agreed to serve on the advisory committee of ULI’s Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing (the result of a $5 million gift that Terwilliger made to ULI).

“The only thing that could have kept me from serving on the advisory board was President Obama appointing me to be his HUD secretary,” Donovan told Terwilliger and the crowd before he laying out the administration’s agenda.

After the end of the three-day conference, Terwilliger was relieved with how it turned out.

“For 2,400 people to come at this point and time was a real testament to ULI,” Terwilliger said.

Although there have been larger Spring forums in the past, especially in the larger cities of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, Terwilliger said that the attendance in Atlanta was quite respectable, especially during the current serious economic downturn.

That said, Terwilliger already was looking forward beyond the conference.

“What I really want to talk about is the Atlanta Dream,” Terwilliger said about the professional women’s basketball team that he owns.